Recent rainfall suspends some cotton planting
Weekend rains have stalled cotton planting in some areas of the South Plains, although growers across most of the region are continuing to put seed in the ground.
The rain came at an ideal time for many, especially those waiting for moisture by which to plant. That eliminates the need for a costly pre-plant irrigation, something growers are trying to avoid this year as a cost-cutting measure.

Resilient Atascosa ocelots weathering Texas drought
BROWNSVILLE {AP} Despite a continuing shortage of fresh water, ocelots aren't fleeing the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in South Texas.
The Rio Grande Valley is in the midst of an extended drought and the few remaining pools of fresh water are evaporating.

Engagements - May 15, 2001
MADDUXTHANE
Leah "Shaye" Maddux of Conroe and Dustin Shaun Thane of Odessa announce their engagement. The couple will marry July 7 at West Conroe Baptist Church.

Allstate purchase may signal things to come
CHICAGO {AP} Allstate Corp.'s entry into the car repair business is an intriguing experiment that other insurance companies could emulate if it proves successful, industry experts say.

Economists disagree on amount of expected Fed rate reduction
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is expected to announce today another cut in federal interest rates. Analysts disagree whether the cut will be half a point or a quarter-point.
WASHINGTON {AP} The Federal Reserve, which has cut interest rates four times this year trying to stave off a recession, is expected to reduce rates still further today.

Q&A
Q: I have been a waiter all through college and found that I could make more money waiting tables than I could teaching, which is what I studied in school. Howev

Restaurants, retail offer summer jobs
ARLINGTON, Va. {AP} Norvelle Dickerson is picky about his first summer job. No polyester uniform, no greasy fry cookers.
Just how choosy can summer job-seekers afford to be? The nation's unemployment rate jumped to a 2 1/2-year high of 4.5 percent last month as 223,000 people lost their jobs  the most since February 1991, when the country was still mired in recession.

Tech softball earns NCAA regional bid
Bobby Reeves didn't have to wait long to find out whether the Texas Tech softball team earned a berth in the NCAA Division I Softball Championships.

LCU to ink Odessa College teammates
It was just two months ago that a senior class with the school's career scoring and assist leaders helped Lubbock Christian University reach the final eight of the men's basketball NAIA Tournament.

Raiders walk away with crucial win
WACO No matter how hard Texas Tech baseball coach Larry Hays tried or what methods he used, he couldn't get his team to downplay enough what was riding on Sunday's Big 12 series finale against Baylor.
The Red Raiders' post-game celebration showed as much.

Minnesota coach fired for various rules violations
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Two years after an academic fraud scandal tarnished Minnesota's men's basketball program, its women's coach was fired Monday for a pattern of rule-breaking that included improper benefits to players.

Red Raiders denied NCAA regional
Being one of the hottest baseball teams in the nation over the last six weeks was apparently not enough to sway the NCAA in Texas Tech's favor.
The school's bid to host an NCAA regional May 25-27 was denied by the 10-person baseball committee when the 16 sites were announced on Monday.

Ceremony preparation take work
The month of May is filled with celebrations.
On May 3, many Christians observed the National Day of Prayer. Two days later, Spanish heritage was celebrated with Cinco de Mayo. On Sunday, moms were showered with thanks, and the month concludes with Memorial Day.

Leaving home means new friends, chores
s graduation gets closer, many seniors are forced to make some of the biggest decisions of their lives. One of those decisions is whether they will leave home or choose to stay with their parents for a while longer.

TEEN BRIEFS - May 14, 2001
Wish lists
With graduation nearing, A Word in Edgewise staffers asked seniors what they would like to receive to commemorate their years in high school and the move beyond. Here' what tops their wish lists:

Tomorrow's Tradesmen
THE BYRON MARTIN Advanced Technology Center, which opened in 1997, is still relatively new to Lubbock but has already made a significant mark in offering quality education to Lubbock students.

City Budget Caution
ON ONE HAND, City Manager Bob Cass is showing commendable fiscal responsibility by asking city department heads to trim their budgets for the next fiscal year by 5 percent to see how much the reduced spending would affect city services.
Unpredictability of certain economic trends, especially sales tax revenue, has inspired the city manager to take a cautious approach, he said.

Economy Is Healthy
IT IS GRATIFYING NEWS that Lubbock is still thriving economically  especially considering that last year's cotton crop was not a good one. We are diversified enough to be able to withstand anemic agriculture  but only to a point.
Amarillo economist Karr Ingham, who publishes a monthly Lubbock Economic Review, noted that Lubbock's economy grew by 4.3 percent in 2000, which is an outstanding rate of growth. The Hub City is growing in population, jobs and construction, he said.

Person With A Mission
GOV. RICK PERRY signed into law Monday a bill that makes it illegal to let children under 18 years old ride in the back of a pickup truck in Texas. It marked the end of a long and bumpy road for Karen Slay of Lubbock.

Sweepstakes Honors
THE CORONADO HIGH SCHOOL orchestra extended its extraordinary string of sweepstakes awards to 33 consecutive years recently during the recent University Interscholastic League regional music competition.

Tomorrow's Tradesmen
THE BYRON MARTIN Advanced Technology Center, which opened in 1997, is still relatively new to Lubbock but has already made a significant mark in offering quality education to Lubbock students.

EDUCATION/ briefly - May 14, 2001
Wayland begins registrationSummer term registration for Wayland Baptist University's Lubbock campus will be today and Tuesday. Late registration will be May 21-25. The summer term runs from May 28 to August 28.
For more information, call the Lubbock campus at 785-9285 or e-mail at lubbock@mail.wbu.edu. The campus is located at 2002 W. Loop 289, Suite 120.

'Apocalypse Redux'
CANNES, France {AP} The Cannes Film Festival helped save Francis Ford Coppola from financial disaster on "Apocalypse Now."
The "work in progress" he showed at Cannes in 1979 won the festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, and the Vietnam epic went on to critical and commercial success that pulled Coppola out of a sinkhole of debt resulting from the production.

Area, city teams set playoff dates
All three city teams and several area teams have set up their pairings for the regional quarterfinal round of the UIL baseball playoffs.

Seminole refocuses, clinches series
Shallowater third baseman Ross Nieman tracks down a grounder from Seminole's Rob Guerra during the fifth inning Monday. The Indians defeated the Mustangs 7-5.

Rotan beats Ira for top seed
SNYDER -- Robert Helms hit a two-run double in the fourth inning, and Kirby Cerda followed with an inside-the-park two-run homer as Rotan pulled away and beat Ira 7-1 Monday in a District 7-1A baseball playoff for postseason seeding.

Westerners bow out of playoffs
This was an episode of dja vu the Lubbock High baseball team definitely could've lived without.
On Monday the Westerners watched their season come to an abrupt close on a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the third game of a Class 5A best-of-three area-round playoff series at Westerner Field.

Rain-delayed playoffs resume today in Hub City
Two area-round playoff series will resume in Lubbock today, with trips to the regional quarterfinals on the line.
In Class 5A, Lubbock High and El Paso Franklin will pick up the second game of a best-of-three series at West-erner Field with the Cougars leading 14-9 in the top of the seventh.

Loop Renovation
Re: The editorial " 'Torn-Up Loop Blues' " (A-J, 5-1).
I am so glad the citizens of this great state have the editorial staff of The Avalanche-Journal to turn to when they need highway projects planned, designed and constructed.

Burle's Weather Comments
As I usually enjoy Burle Pettit's writing, I was disappointed in his assessment of Lubbock TV weatherpeople in his April 29 column. He should be reminded that a storm an hour away from him is on top of some outlying district.

BioSafety Lab Concerns
I just can't wait! This is so exciting! A bioterrorism lab! What a legacy to leave to my children and grandchildren  the chance of being exposed to germ warfare chemicals!

Look At All Sides Of Issue
Who forces individuals to play eight-liners? The same person who forces people to play the lottery, scratch-off games, or even bingo. Talk about ripping off people who can't afford to spend the money  the lottery. Let's see, your chances might be one in how many millions?

E. Lubbock's Development
In just the same way that a used car salesman might try to sell a vehicle with engine trouble rather than giving it the major overhaul that it deserves, so hav

Bush's Policies
Re: "Bumpy Ride Ahead?" (A-J, 4-14). The letter writer hit it right on the nose. 1) It is a fact that Bush's repeal of OSHA regulations on repetitive stress injuries will negatively affect 45 million American workers, most of them women. As an ordinary American, I see that compassionate conservatism is alive and well.

A Smoke-Free Lubbock
It has been 8 months since I started my campaign STIR (Stop Tobacco In Restaurants). We have shown a lot of evidence that smoking is harmful to everyone  especially children.
The ad hoc committee set up by the City Council has voted unanimously that secondhand smoke is unsafe. Dr. Glantz from University of California also showed that businesses do not lose money when smoking is banned in public places.

What Is Safe?
Knowing that smoking causes a plethora of diseases in smokers and in persons living with smokers, what level of exposure to tobacco smoke do you consider acceptable for your babies?

Venue Tax Defeat
Hey, tell me Bob Cass did not say, "We will need to look at the budget to see if the city will build the projects." Let the two well-known bird dogs of the good ol' boys club, known as David L. and Windy S., put these projects to the pocketbooks of the local taxed people and then we should see them back in their kennels.

Children Are Learning
Re: The letter "Make Children Behave" (A-J, 4-25). The letter writer was once a young child who didn't know any better than to fuss and scream when she didn't get her way.

After-Prom Entertainment
It was brought to my attention recently (April 28) that all businesses pertaining to bowling, movies and other forms of entertainment were not allowing students to e

Preventable Deaths
Let's look at the issues in the smoking ordinance debate:
Relative to public health, secondhand smoke is the third most prevalent preventable cause of death in the U.S., not hamburgers, not car exhaust, not cotton or other dusts. 53,000 non-smoking Americans die annually from inhaling other people's tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke has been shown to be a health risk for asthmatics, babies, children, individuals with previous heart attacks or strokes, the public in general, and employees, in particular.

Job Differences
Re: The letter "One More Point..." (A-J, 4-20), both the Fire Department and the police place their lives on the line every day. Yes, the Police Department does get paid a higher salary. However, the Po

Please Build Skatepark
Re: The letter "Parent Backs Skatepark" (A-J, 4-25). Lubbock needs to hurry up and get a skatepark. The skateboarders have been wanting one for so long, and Lubbock has just been ignoring our request.

Being green
The back of his red Toyota truck contained old plastic bottles and a stack of newspapers about a foot and a half tall.
Instead of throwing these items away, Lubbock resident John Falkner, 57, said he collects them in his utility room for recycling.

Community briefs
Guild's dream home showcases designers
The Lubbock Symphony Guild's Designer Showcase Home, 2006 Albany Ave., will be open to the public through May 24.

Two killed in early morning collision
Two people died early Monday when the driver of a pickup disregarded a flashing red light and caused a collision at 34th Street and Chicago Avenue, police said.
The accident occurred at 2:18 a.m., and alcohol may have played a role in the wreck, according to police.

GESC plans commodities distributions
The Guadalupe Economic Services Corporation of Lubbock will be distributing commodities in four area towns today and Wednesday. Locations and times are as follows:

Stabbing victim at flea market still hospitalized
Ruben Menchaca, 35, of Lubbock was in satisfactory condition Monday at University Medical Center after being stabbed and slashed Sunday afternoon near a flea market in the 2300 block of Avenue K.

Kids voting project earns national acclaim
Kids Voting Lubbock County, which drew thousands of school students into the electoral process when it debuted last fall, has earned a national award from Kids Voting USA.

Test drugs may be used to treat cancer despite shortcomings
SAN FRANCISCO {AP} Much-anticipated new drugs intended to stop cancer by cutting off its blood supply show only slight benefit in early testing on terminally ill patients, although experts say the medicines still may prove useful.
Whatever their eventual role, however, new data released Sunday suggest the drugs will not be the kind of across-the-board cancer cure that some had predicted.

Heart defect deaths among children decline
DALLAS {AP} During the last two decades, the number of children dying from congenital heart defects has decreased dramatically, a study found.
Researchers studying death certificates from 1979-1997 found that overall deaths from heart defects declined 39 percent during the period, from 2.5 per 100,000 population in 1979 to 1.5 per 100,000 population in 1997.

Attorneys maintain court should reconsider Nichols' case
WASHINGTON {AP} The FBI's failure to turn over thousands of documents from the investigation of Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing should persuade the Supreme Court to reconsider the case of co-conspirator Terry Nichols, Nichols' lawyers argued in a new appeal.
Nichols was sentenced in 1997 to life in prison after he was found guilty in a federal trial of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building two years earlier.

McVeigh rethinks death wish
WASHINGTON (AP) Timothy McVeigh's lawyers said Sunday he is re-evaluating his position on wanting to be executed after learning the FBI failed to disclose evidence in the Oklahoma City bombing case.
The FBI's lapse has prompted members of Congress to urge hearings into how it happened, and one Democrat wants President Bush to appoint a blue-ribbon commission to review the FBI.

Jeb Bush denies rumors about affair
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. {AP} Gov. Jeb Bush, facing published reports of infidelity with a political appointee as he considers a re-election campaign, on Monday dismissed the rumor as an "outright lie."

Senate plan extends marriage penalty
WASHINGTON {AP} A couple tying the knot this summer would have to wait five years for relief to begin from the tax code's marriage penalty under a compromise Senate tax cut proposal. They'd be near their 10th anniversary by the time the penalty disappeared altogether.

Tension between U.S., Vietnam escalating
HANOI, Vietnam {AP} The news that former Sen. Bob Kerrey led a raid during the Vietnam War in which at least 13 civilians were killed came at a bad time for U.S.-Vietnamese relations.

Cheney blames Democratic actions for nation's energy woes
WASHINGTON {AP} Vice President Dick Cheney, pointman for the Bush administration's new energy policy, said Monday there are no easy or quick solutions to rising energy bills. He accused the Clinton administration of doing "stupid things" like tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cope with shortages.

Billye Estella Webb
SWEETWATER  Services for Billye Estella Webb, 68, of Abilene and formerly of Sweetwater will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at McCoy Chapel of Memories.

E.H. Braziel
Services for E.H. "Bill" Braziel, 78, of Lubbock will be 2 p.m. Tuesday at Sunset Church of Christ with Doug Hale, Jerry Roberts and Charles Carman officiating.

Lena Hanson
BIG SPRING  Graveside services for Lena Hanson, 96, of Colorado City and formerly of Big Spring will be at 10 a.m. today at Mount Olive Memorial Park with the Rev. Randy Gee officiating.

O.L. Damron
HALE CENTER  Services for O.L. "Doc" Damron, 94, of San Antonio, formerly of Hale Center, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Hale Center First United Methodist Church with the Revs. Wesley Putnam and Ken Rowland officiating.

Mary Joiner
PLAINVIEW  Services for Mary Joiner, 81, of Plainview will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Christian Church with the Rev. Dean McNamara officiating.

Jesusa Reyna
LORENZO  Rosary for Jesusa "Susie" Reyna, 57, of Lubbock will be at 7 p.m. today at San Lorenzo Catholic Church in Lorenzo.

Ethel Michael
No services will be held for Ethel L. Michael, 87, of Lubbock who died Saturday, May 12, 2001.

Harlin Williams
O'DONNELL  Services for Harlin D. Williams, 88, of O'Donnell will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in O'Donnell with the Rev. Clifton Igo officiating and the Rev. Richard Rush assisting.

June Wallace
HOBBS, N.M.  Services for June Wallace, 74, of Hobbs, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Grace Lutheran Church with the Rev. Michael K. Erickson officiating.

Sabina Gilbertson
PLAINVIEW  Services for Sabina "Biney" L. Gilbertson, 85, of Plainview will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Drew Travis officiating.

Matilda Baca
FRIONA  Rosary for Matilda Baca, 65, of Friona will be at 7 p.m. today at St. Teresa's Catholic Church.
Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the same church with the Rev. Ed Sweeney officiating.

Suzy Shipp
LOVINGTON, N.M.  Services for Suzy Shipp, 77, of Lovington will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Roy Elmore officiating.

Celia Betancourt
LAREDO  Services for Celia Alvarez Betancourt, 86, of Levelland were held Monday at Christ The King Catholic Church in Laredo.

Crime wrap - May 15, 2001
Blotter information is compiled from reports filed with the Lubbock Police Department. To report information about these or other crimes, call Crime Line at 741-1000. In some cases, cash rewards are offered. Callers may remain anonymous.

Police blotter - May 14, 2001
Blotter information is compiled from reports filed with the Lubbock Police Department. To report information about these or other crimes, call Crime Line at 741-1000. In some cases, cash rewards are offered. Callers may remain anonymous.

Sorenstam denied sixth win of the season
FRANKLIN, Tenn. Hall of Famer Juli Inkster shot a 7-under-par 65 on Sunday to hold off Annika Sorenstam and Catriona Matthew in the Electrolux USA Championship.

Damron wins in playoff
IRVING (AP) No one can say Robert Damron stumbled into his first PGA Tour victory.
First came a great comeback bid from Tiger Woods, then a gritty challenge from hometown hero Scott Verplank, who birdied three of the last four holes to force a playoff Sunday in the Byron Nelson Classic.

Kings' Petrie named top exec
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Geoff Petrie, the Sacramento Kings' vice president of operations, was selected Monday as the NBA Executive of the Year for the second time in two years.

Spurs end Mavericks' season in style
SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs have been called a WNBA team by Shaquille O'Neal, and had their 1999 championship discounted by Phil Jackson. Now the Los Angeles Lakers are going to find out how good the Spurs are.
Tim Duncan had 32 points and 20 rebounds as the Spurs cruised past the Dallas Mavericks 105-87 Monday night to close their second-round series and send them to the Western Conference finals against the defending champion Lakers.

Lynn County inmate in jail after escape
TAHOKA  Sunday marked the second time Jose Antonio Moya Jr. escaped from the Lynn County Jail in Tahoka.
He was captured Sunday night about 10 hours after his 11 a.m. escape.

Two men remain jailed in Friday shooting of Clovis resident
CLOVIS, N.M.  Two men, ages 19 and 21, were arrested after a Friday shooting that sent another man to a local hospital.
Jose L. Olivas, 18, of Clovis was treated and released from Plains Regional Medical Center after he was injured during a shooting, a Clovis Police Department news release said.

Archaeologists say object includes ancient language
NEW YORK {AP} Archaeologists say an ancient civilization that thrived in Central Asia more than 4,000 years ago may have developed a written language or at least experimented with a form of proto-writing.
Evidence of the accomplishments of the unknown people in what are now the republics of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan began to emerge over several decades of excavations by archaeologists of the Soviet Union.

North Atlantic cycle raises questions about global warming
WASHINGTON {AP} A slow but regular warming and cooling of the North Atlantic Ocean appears to have a strong impact on rainfall in the United States, a discovery that could complicate efforts to measure the effect of global climate change.

Authorities throw book at chase suspect
HOUSTON {AP} A man who led police on a chase through Houston Saturday night after firing shots at a motorist and a Sealy police officer's patrol car has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, the Department of Public Safety said Sunday.

Girl, 5, killed during chase by troopers
BULLARD {AP} A state Department of Public Safety patrol car pursuing a vehicle collided with a pickup truck Monday, killing a 5-year-old child who was ejected from the truck.

Leaking fuel tanks may put Texans at risk
FORT WORTH {AP} About one in seven underground fuel tanks in Texas have leaked, sometimes contaminating water wells and sometimes sending explosive fumes into homes and businesses, according to federal Environmental Protection Agency records.

Perry signs off on new truck law
AUSTIN It took almost seven years of pleas to lawmakers, road trips between Lubbock and Austin, and calls from grief-stricken parents but on Monday, a Lubbock woman's crusade came to a close.
Hearing news of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's signature on Senate Bill 399 brought tears to Karen Slay's eyes.

Legislators taking long road home
AUSTIN (AP) There are only two weeks left in the Texas legislative session, but lawmakers still have plenty of work to do.
The session ends on May 28, and only a handful of high priority bills have been passed.

Palestinians mark anniversary of displacement after Israel's creation
RAMALLAH, West Bank {AP} Tens of thousands of Palestinians jammed town squares in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Tuesday, standing in silence during a three-minute siren to mark "Al Naqba," or the catastrophe, as they call their displacement during Israel's founding in 1948.

Cheney task force seeks input from interest groups
WASHINGTON {AP} The White House team developing a national energy plan has met with more than 130 interest groups, from environmentalists and unions often at odds with Republicans to major Bush supporters given private sessions with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rains stall some cotton planting
Weekend rains have stalled cotton planting in some areas of the South Plains, although growers across the most of the region are continuing to put seed in the ground.

Tech's Williams considers ACU, Alabama
Texas Tech running back Shaud Williams is considering Abilene Christian University and Alabama as possible future destinations to continue his college football and baseball careers, sources close to the situation told The Avalanche-Journal.

Lubbock man stabbed at flea market
A man was hospitalized Sunday after three men used knives to slash and stab him.
Lubbock police were called to a flea market in the 2300 block of Ave. K to check a report of armed men roaming the area. When officers arrived, the suspects had fled, but the police dispatcher notified the officers that a man had been attacked and was taken to University Medical Center for treatment.

Charge wrap
Felony charges
The Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney's Office has filed the following felony charges:

Squeezed out of cities, methamphetamine labs sprout in forests and parks
ASHFORD, Wash. {AP} In the Tahoma State Forest in the shadow of Mount Rainier, hikers and hunters have been displaced by men in moon suits searching for contamination from methamphetamine labs and roping off sickly brown "dead zones" where meth-making's poisonous byproducts were dumped.

Russia launches American communications satellite
MOSCOW {AP} A Russian Proton-K rocket thundered into space Tuesday carrying an American satellite that will broadcast news and entertainment television to large parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.

Runaway train stopped after rolling with hazardous material
KENTON, Ohio {AP} A runaway freight train carrying hazardous materials rolled for miles through Ohio on Tuesday at speeds close to 50 mph with no one aboard before a railroad official jumped onto the locomotive and brought it to a stop.

Palestinians mark anniversary; four killed, more than 200 injured
RAMALLAH, West Bank {AP} With Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat urging his people to "stand strong," tens of thousands packed town squares Tuesday to protest the anniversary of what Palestinians call the day of "catastrophe" in 1948. In clashes that followed, four Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded by Israeli fire.

New European legislation gets tough on tobacco
BRUSSELS, Belgium {AP} Gory color photographs of stained teeth or diseased lungs could soon be splashed across cigarette packs in Europe as part of tough new legislation on tobacco marketing adopted Tuesday.

Nichols returns to Supreme Court in light of FBI mistake
WASHINGTON {AP} Lawyers for Terry Nichols, convicted in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, asked the Supreme Court to reconsider an appeal in light of the FBI's failure to give defense lawyers thousands of documents.

Continental names new president
HOUSTON {AP} Continental Airlines named Lawrence Kellner as the company's new president at the airline's board of directors meeting Tuesday.

Driver extricated after rollover
The driver of a 1999 Ford Ranger suffered a slight head injury Monday when his vehicle went out of control and rolled across Interstate 27, Lubbock Police Sgt. Ronnie Sowell said.

Kids voting wins award
Kids Voting Lubbock County, which drew thousands of school students into the electoral process when it debuted last fall, has earned a national award from Kids Voting USA.

One dead, three wounded in nighttime shootings
CINCINNATI {AP} One person was killed and three others were wounded by a man described as angry about people loitering around his building in the same neighborhood that was scarred by rioting after police shot an unarmed black man, authorities said.

Lubbock High, El Paso Franklin tied in fifth inning
Editor's note: A more recent version of this story can be found in the updated section.
P.J. Trevino hit a bases-loaded triple shortly after noon Monday to provide a fifth-inning tie in Game 3 of a Class 5A area baseball playoff series between El Paso Franklin and Lubbock High.

Senate chairman demands Postal Service overhaul
WASHINGTON {AP} Congressional leaders angry over two postal rate increases this year and talk of a third told Postal Service officials Tuesday that the country's system for mail must be overhauled.

Crash claims two lives
A man and woman were killed in a traffic accident at about 2:18 a.m. at the intersection of 34th Street and Chicago Avenue.

Runaway train with hazardous materials reported in Ohio
FINDLAY, Ohio {AP} A runaway freight train carrying hazardous materials traveled Tuesday through northwestern Ohio. Authorities who tried unsuccessfully to derail it said they believe the engineer had suffered a heart attack.

Venue tax election could make return engagement
Pledging to bring more support to the polls, a group of residents is circulating a petition for another venue tax election this fall that would be like the one that was defeated less than two weeks ago.

Congress questions aid to Middle East
WASHINGTON {AP} The bountiful U.S. aid package for Egypt, unchallenged for two decades, was questioned Tuesday by a Republican senator, who said the government-supported press had "been spewing anti-Semitism at an all-time high."

Ghana holds mass memorial for soccer dead
ACCRA, Ghana {AP} At a mass memorial service for 126 people killed in Africa's worst soccer stampede, Ghana's President John Kufuor said Sunday that the country must "never again allow such a disaster to happen."

Italians choose between conservative media magnate and center-left
ROME {AP} Italians voted Sunday in elections to decide who will lead the country's 59th government since the end of World War II  conservative media baron Silvio Berlusconi or former Rome mayor Francesco Rutelli, the head of the center-left coalition that has governed for five years.

Concorde settlement ironed out
BERLIN {AP} Relatives of 75 German passengers who died in last year's crash of a supersonic Concorde jet outside Paris have accepted a hefty compensation offer, a lawyer for the families said Sunday.
"The settlement has been approved both by Air France and the relatives in recent days," lawyer Gerhart Baum said in a written statement.